Group asks ethics panel to investigate Texas congressman

D.C. group says Johnson improperly encouraged IRS to audit Texans for Public Justice.

1 Mar 2006 // A congressional watchdog group is asking the House ethics committee to investigate whether Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Plano, improperly encouraged the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a Texas group critical of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The digging done by Texans for Public Justice in part led to criminal charges against DeLay in Travis County. After receiving a complaint about the group from an attorney close to DeLay, Johnson asked the IRS to look into the group.

"If these allegations are correct, the IRS should investigate these organizations and take appropriate action," Johnson wrote on Aug. 3, 2004, to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson.

Johnson's office said this week that it did not request an audit. Now, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is asking the House ethics committee to look into Johnson's actions.

The House doesn't allow outsiders to file ethics complaints, but the watchdog group did so anyway, in hopes that some member would carry it. A Johnson spokeswoman said the group was just making a liberal partisan attack on him.

The Washington Post reported this week that Texans for Public Justice was cleared in the IRS audit; Johnson's role was revealed after the Texas group filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the IRS to see why it was audited.